Christmas in the Xchange 2011

Last Wednesday night, over 150 students, parents, and adult leaders gathered in the Xchange building for a night of worship, food and good times as we celebrated the Christmas season.

As students arrived, they were greeted with more Christmas snacks than any one person should eat. The spread included apple cider, hot cocoa, cookies, brownies, chips, dips, cokes, and all kinds of candy. Once students were in the building, they also had the chance to decorate the Xchange Christmas tree, which now sits below our “JESUS sign” from Camp Tallowood 2011. A very cool reminder of what Christmas is all about!

After everyone had their fill of snacks, we all headed in to the Gingerbread House decorating area where each grade level divided up and began working to create their own gingerbread house.

It was an interesting 20 minutes of decorating as some groups paid attention to every close detail, while other groups (I’m talking to you middle school boys!) decided to eat most of their decorating supplies and take decorating a little less seriously.

When it was all said and done, the 7th grade girls team won the contest with a very nicely done house.

After the contest, everyone headed to the worship area where Sam Jones led us in a few Christmas Carols while he was surrounded by students on the stage. It was an energetic time as some students danced and others swayed in unison as we made a joyful noise together.

Finally, we ended the night by of course looking at the Christmas story (Luke 2). We saw how Jesus being born was about more than just celebrating the birth of baby. Instead, Jesus’ birth is evidence of God showing up to meet the needs of the world. We looked at prophecies that predicted His birth and also saw how His birth was a shift in how God related to people.

Overall, it was a great night and an amazing chance to celebrate the birth of God’s Son together. To see more pictures from the night, go HERE.